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SUMIDA RIVER FIREWORK SHOW IS COMING SOON-22th of July

  • 2018.07.24

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in Asakusa. On the day of our two-guided tours on July 22, we welcomed 31 guests. Guests came from different regions of the world, including Australia, Austria, Canada, Colombia, India, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland and U.S.A. The growing momentum of the scorching heat brought about by the summer season continues to prevail all over Japan. Some areas in the western side of Japan even experienced the temperature of around 40 degree Celsius. At Asakusa in Tokyo, the temperature reached 35degree Celsius in the morning and intensified around the time that we started our afternoon tour. Despite the extreme summertime heat, we were lucky and happy to meet 31 energetic participants who joined our tour. We went through the Kaminarimon Gate or the Thunder Gate of the Sensoji Buddhist Temple and made way to the Nakamise Shopping Street. All of the participants were eager to explore Asakusa, however, by the time we concluded our tour at the Asakusa Shinto Shrine, most of the guests seemed exhausted, mainly because of the unbearable temperature. (Data from Japan Meteorological Agency) As we have recommended in our previous blog posts, strolling around Asakusa during the nighttime […]

21 July 2018, The East Garden of the Imperial Palace

  • 2018.07.22

Thanks to all the guests for joining the tour and having a good time with us on 21st July! We welcomed 34 guests and divided into 3 groups. It was extremely hot, the temperature got over 35 C, so we walked in the shades as much as possible and recommended guests to drink water at every water tap facilities. This summer season reminds me of the Bird Man Rally Contest which is held at Lake Biwa of Hikone city in Shiga prefecture. Rule of this contest is to fly by only human power with a  handmade plane, take off from the platform at 1om height (approach length is also 10m). The winner pilot flew 40km!! last year. Though lake Biwa is the biggest lake in Japan, the width of the lake is as short as 40km, so pilot needs to turn his plane at 20km point from the platform to fly more distance. The winner last year succeeded to go back to platform area. It’s first time in this contest. To fly more distance, location of flight turning point is changed from 20km to 30km this year, so maximum distance becomes 60km! The 41st contest is planned to be held […]

Huge Torii welcomed us with a giant branch , July 15, Meiji Jingu

  • 2018.07.17

Thank you very much for joining us even when it was a very hot day. We appreciate all of our guests whom were  brave enough to overcome the heat!! (Actually we could have plenty of shade inside Meiji Jungu to walk around) We welcomed 17 guests from U.S.A, Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Italy, U.K. “What is this?” We were asked by our guests when arriving at the 2nd Torii. It was also our first time to see a SAKAKI attached to the Oo-torii, and the branch itself looked like a giant ornament to match the size of the huge torii. SAKAKI (English name: Cleyera japonica Thunb)is a sacred tree, which has a meaning of  the boundary between gods and humans. It is said that the the gods dwell in the sharp branches. Or in Japanese old myth, SAKAKI marks the place where the god exists. How amazing…, Each time we visit the Meiji Jingu or Harajuku, we have a new discovery as our guests!! Let us share the lasting excitement or surprise with all of you. We look forward meeting you every other week at Meiji Jungu, Sunday 10:00 a.m. (posted by Nori)

FIRES AND QUARRELS WERE THE HIGHLIGHT OF EDO-JULY 14

  • 2018.07.16

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour in the East Garden of the Imperial Palace. On the day of our two-guided tours, 14th of July, we welcomed 38 guests from, India, Canada, Germany, U.K., Australia, Hungary, Indonesia, U.S., Spain, Israel, Philippine and Iran The temperature rose up to around 35 degrees Celsius and stayed the same or rose even more in the afternoon. We started our two-hour tour from Tokyo Station in this harsh condition. Tokyo Station was overlooking us, and it also seemed to warmly welcome our tour group, as it always does. After a fifty-minute walk from Tokyo Station towards the direction of the East Garden of the Imperial Compound, where we were surrounded by the beautiful flora in the well-maintained and truly majestic garden. At the Otemon Gate, the main gate of the Edo Castle, our guides usually explain about an ornament to tourists. This ornament called Shachihoko and is believed to be a guardian and a protector of the castle from fire. Countless incidents of fire occurrences have been recorded in the town of Edo, both major and minor ones. As this chart explains, some of them are so huge that it has left […]

Night at Asakusa(July 8)

  • 2018.07.09

Many thanks for joining our tours in Asakusa on July 8. We welcomed 10 people from Brazil, Australia,Spain,Morocco and Japan. The weather was perfect but extremely hot. Nevertheless, I hope all of you enjoyed walking with us at Sensoji Temple. In the meantime unprecedented torrential rains have pounded the broad parts of western Japan triggering flooding and landslides. Regrettably, a large  number of residents have passed away. The Tokyo’s oldest Sensoji Temple has a different face in the evening. The buildings such as Kaminarimon Gate,Nakamise Shopping Street,Hozomon Gate,Pagoda and the main hall are beautifully illuminated until 11pm. Although the main hall is closed at 5pm and the shops around 7pm, visitors are welcomed to enter the precincts at all times. The streets are packed with people in the daytime, but the night is still. It is hard to believe the hustle and bustle in the daytime. Firstly the rooftop(8F) of Culture and Information Center(open until 10pm) commands a panoramic view of Asakusa. We can see the Japan’s highest Tokyo Sky Tree bathed in light with the height of 634 meters. Also bright color of the temple buildings is stunning. Coming down look at Kaminarimon Gate. The displayed gods of thunder […]

7 July 2018, The East Garden of the Imperial Palace

  • 2018.07.08

Thank you for joining our tour to Imperial Palace East Garden on July 7th. Please post your feedback in our Facebook (or Trip Advisor) or post your Facebook and tell your friends how you liked our tour. We will be happy if your friends join our tour in the future. We are happy to have 31 guests from Australia, Austria, France, Argentina, Brazil, Slovakia, Germany, Poland, UK, Indonesia, Netherland, Colombia, Morocco and US. Today, the guests were divided into 4 groups with two guides in each group. We are very happy to know that some of the guests have joined our Meiji Jingu Shrine & Harajuku Tour last week.       Japan has many historical destinations. For example, Kyoto or Nara in the western Japan used to be the ancient capitals. They were built more than a thousand years ago, and have many shrines and temples. Even in metropolitan area of Tokyo, you can visit many historical places such as Meiji jingu shrine, Asakusa Senso-ji temple or the Imperial Palace East Garden. TFWT has tours of these three attractive courses. Come and join us! (Asa)      

What do you wish upon a star? (July 1st)

  • 2018.07.04

We’ve been puzzled over the weird weather since this spring. By the first days of April, cherry blossoms had already gone.  And now, rainy season had ended by the end of  June.  Both happened about two weeks earlier than usual, so surprised! Anyways, we were grateful that 19 guests from US, Australia, Singapore, Israel, Italy and Spain joined our tour last weekend. It was their first visit to Japan for most of them. I hope they had enjoyed our tour through the Meiji Shrine and Harajuku area. At the front of the main pavilion, one of the guests found a bamboo with decoration of colored papers and asked what they are for. We have ‘Tanabata (七夕)’, a festival of the Weaver Star on July 7th.  It is based on an old Chinese legend, in which the two star lovers separated by the Milky Way meet once a year on this day. People write their wishes on narrow paper tablets and hang them on bamboo leaves with other decorations, extending their prayers to the stars.  These tablets are written by many kids, one of then was written, “I wanna be a animal doctor!”, or the other was “I wanna get more Pokemon!”, so cute! […]

Report Tour on June 30

  • 2018.07.03

Thank you for joining us. We had 26 guests from 10 countries. Australia, Singapore, Italy, Israel, to name a few. Since World cup is now being held in Russia, we talked a lot about football and other sports we love during the tour. We love sports, and we love to chat with you about it.

27 JUNE 2018, Weekday Morning tour to The East Garden of the Imperial Palace

  • 2018.06.29

Thank you for joining our walking tour to Imperial Palace East Gardens on June 27th. We were so happy to have met all 16 guests from Canada,U.S.A.,Belgium,Georgia,and Australia. The guests were divided into 4 groups with few of our guides in each group. This day was a weekday, so the garden was more peaceful and quiet than on weekends. It was a hot and windy day. But all of us enjoyed the tour.       A guest from U.S.A told me that he bought ONIGIRI for snack at a convenience store almost every day. ONIGIRI is “rice ball” which is a Japanese food made from white rice, seaweed and fillings. There are a variety of ONIGIRI fillings and flavors such as pickled plum, salted salmon or tuna(bonito flakes) with mayonnaise,and leaf mustard. Major convenience stores in Japan (Seven-eleven, LAWSON, FamilyMart and more) provide many kinds of ONIGIRI. Please try some ONIGIRI in Japan. I recommend UME (UMEBOSHI) ONIGIRI, which is filled with small red round pickled plum that is very salty and sour . You will be surprised when you eat it for the first time. Please eat little by little with rice. UMEBOSHI is effective for summer exhaustion […]

Tour Report on June 23th at the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace

  • 2018.06.25

Thank you for joining our Tokyo Free Walking Tour on June 23th. On the day of two tours, we welcomed 35 guests from 8 countries on our morning tour. The weather was recently weird in Japan, with it changing between sunny, cloudy, and rainy weather. Although the weather of this day was cloudy with partly rain, all of us enjoyed talking and walking during the tour. Strolling around the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace is also great for rainy days. A sunny day is absolutely the best time to visit, but the garden could be full of quiet atmosphere due to the stillness of the rain. Moreover, the flowers, like hydrangea, looks best in the rain. Wherever you go on a rainy day in Japan, you can enjoy it. Japanese have devised the way of enjoying the four seasons for a long period of time. Sen no Rikiyu, the most famous tea ceremony master, introduced seven rules of tea ceremony to his disciples when he was asked what the tea ceremony was like. One rule was to provide coolness in summer and warmth in winter. Rikyu not only developed Japanese culture but also did not forget consideration for others. I […]

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